USB memory drives are common knowledge for most people and a lot of them are used on daily basis. They are great storage devices and even thou are capable of carrying huge amounts of digital data, they are small in size, portable, attractive and very easy to use. But these are not the only reasons that make them one of the most desirable promotional items.
Because the USB flash drives can be highly customised, by imprinting or engraving logos, names or just about anything you can think of, the companies love them and use them, again and again, in their marketing campaigns. Also, by preloading product or service presentations, sales brochures, price lists or different multimedia files, any business can send important information to their customers or potential customers. This small device can do all this in a very cost effective way, plus, during usage by clients, providing a long term brand exposure.
Thou the prices of USB memory drives continues to fall, some of them even below £2 per unit, with print and data preloaded, some companies still find them expensive. One solution given by merchandisers is the USB key or USB web key.
What is the USB key
The USB key is an interesting and extremely cheap concept. These devices look like a regular USB flash drive, making them as customisable as any USB memory drive. They share the same variety of body colours, styles and shapes, but with a major difference. While the regular USB flash drive can pack huge amounts of data and you can access or modify it, the USB web key holds almost no memory at all and you cannot store any data on it.
Capacity
The USB web key can only carry a single website address, locked into its tiny memory. When connected to any computer, PC or Mac, it launches the default browser and loads the stored webpage. This can be a company home page, a promotion webpage, a social network one or can be a link to a specific product website page on the internet.
The USB web keys can be used by companies that desire to introduce a new product into the market. The USB key can be branded just like a regular USB flash drive, with the company logo, or, part of the new product’s campaign, custom shaped in the item or service theme. The USB key can hold the product’s page or webpage, which can supply information about it, links to media files, links to prices or tech sheets or to other social networks related to it.
Even thou the USB web key do not have the same advantages as any USB flash drive, they can be used to attract potential customers to your website, to register and sign-up for new information about your company, products or services. Also, if you choose a simple design, the USB key can be quite inexpensive and they can be sent to the customers through the standard “Letter Post”, compared to the more costly “Packet Post”.
Any web key acquired will make the customer curious about it and will most likely visit the webpage preloaded on it. And, of course, with specific tools, like web tracking and analytics, from your website you can measure the efficiency of the campaign that used the USB key.
Don’t confuse the USB Web Keys with the regular USB flash drives, as they are quite different and their uses are not the same. Even thou they seem like a standard USB memory drive on the outside, the USB Web Keys are missing one key component. That component is the on-board memory, the part that stores your digital data. On the outside, the USB Web Key can be customised just like other USB flash drives, making it a powerful promotional item.
The USB Web Key, lacking the memory capacity, cannot carry any of your files, but they can do something different, they can act like a key to your business website, just as their name states. At the moment your USB Web Key is plugged into a host computer, it will automatically launch the default browser which will direct your customer or prospective client, to you website.
This website can be your company website, a flash presentation, your online catalogue or any other page you desire. The USB Web Key takes your customer directly to any of your websites or pages without having to worry about getting the web address wrong.
The advantage of this device is that they are relatively cheaper and can be used for new products or services launches, surveys, competitions, gathering market research information and much much more.
From the multiple uses of the USB Web Key we can count new product or services launches or different updates, they are very useful for online marketing research and student application forms, online catalogues, online competitions and promotions or flash presentations, and even for online training programs.
There are many reasons to use the USB Web Key, but their bigger advantages are that, just like the regular USB flash drive, they can be customised to look very attractive, to use them is very easy and anyone can do it, they are inexpensive, they can improve the traffic of your website and provide very good marketing opportunities. In addition, you can direct your customers directly to a certain page, with having to modify your website too much and you can attract new customers with ease.
The USB Web Keys can become an inexpensive corporate gift, suited for most budgets, an ideal tool in any marketing or advertising campaign.
Branded USB Flash Drives are great devices used to advertise your business. They are very popular, they have a high value, they are portable and small and they look great with a logo printed or engraved on their surface. Being cost effective the USB flash drives are the perfect way to distribute as sales material. They can be pre-loaded with your promotional data before they are distributed and by doing this you save on the printing costs. By comparison the transportation costs of the flash drives is small and all these put together will save money more than a traditional marketing campaign. If you decide to start a marketing campaign and use USB flash drives, there are a number of key things to consider before purchasing them:
Quality
Don’t be lured into buying cheap USB flash drives that are usually of low quality. If the price that you are being quoted for by one supplier is much cheaper than the other suppliers that you have been given, then you have many chances that you will purchase Grade “B” flash chips. These chips are typically salvaged chips will typically have performance issues. Always ask your supplier what grade the chips are having and what brand of flash memory chip is being supplied. This factor is one of the most important ones before you purchase branded USB sticks.
Which Model
There are hundreds even thousands of different types of USB sticks available today. With the technology that’s used today, USB flash drives can be created in any shape and any size using all the colors you can think of. USB flash drives can be made from plastic, metal, wood, leather, bamboo or any combination of these. If you can’t find a model that suit your needs then you can always talk with your supplier to make a custom shape USB, because the manufacturing process is now very easy to implement and you can get a fully customised flash drive, built to your own specification in no time.
Portability
Most USB sticks are relatively small and most come with an option of attaching a lanyard or a keyring. One of the more recent innovations in the USB drives technology is the Key USB Flash drive. The USB key is manufactured in 99% of the case only from metal, and they are made in standard sizes, being small as a conventional key. Being composed from metal the USB Key flash drives are extremely durable and they fit on a keyring just like any key, making them a fashionable accessory. The USB Key is probably the most portable of all flash drives and certainly one of the most robust.
Whichever USB stick you will choose, you can be sure that it will be well spent money because in terms of promoting your company this is one of the best choices.
The personalised Key USB flash drives are great gifts for partners, employees or clients, since the key shape is such a symbolic and appreciated detail in most businesses. Offering someone the “keys to your business” reflects trust and it’s a great way to start a partnership or any kind of business relationship. In England, it was traditional to offer keys as gifts at the 21st birthday, as a symbolic gift showing that they are now mature enough to be trusted with the keys.
Keys have a strong symbolic connotation because they have been with us for over 4000 years, since the Egyptians first used them. But since the 18 century, when the modern shape of the keys was born, keys have come a long way, and now they are used to control the access to property, vehicles and machinery.
Now, we can also have USB Keys; USB Keys don’t have the function of the traditional keys, so they can’t unlock something, but they sure can provide you access to information, since they are actually USB flash drives in shape of a key. This way, users can attach USB Keys to their keying, along with all the important keys they carry at all time, so they won’t get lost and are easy to carry.
USB Keys can be customized by engraving your company’s logo, and since they will be with the user all the time, they are highly efficient for promoting your business. Also, you can preload any business-related data to your promotional USB keys, making them really easy to access by your clients or partners.
The key shape is worth considering are you want to order some personalised USB sticks for two reasons: they symbolize thrust and they will be carried everywhere by their owner, promoting your business even more than a regular shaped USB stick would. And, since they are a lot harder to loose, they will promote your company for a long term, making them a great investment.
USB sticks are becoming a very common corporate gift since they are such useful and efficient as a marketing product, but the key-shaped USB sticks are great because they stand out from the crowd with their innovative design. If you are looking for unconventional ideas to promote your business, you definitely should consider branded USB keys. They are creative, portable, robust and do a great job promoting your business.
The USB Key it’s a small and convenient device that stores digital data. Some may consider it a standard storage medium, but for tablet owners, which cannot use the standard USB flash drive with their devices, it’s an innovative gadget. Because of this, we are going to introduce you to the USB Key.
The big USB Key is actually a two different dongles device. At one end you have a regular USB connector and at the other end, a micro-USB is fitted. This is mostly used by tablets and other devices as a standard charging slot. This USB stick works with almost any Android tablet, but as a downside, it is not compatible with the iPad, at least not yet.
To transfer or store your data, all you have to do is plug the USB Key into your computer, copy your files and then insert it into your tablet. Or the other way around. Easy. Now, all the work done on either of your devices can be transferred fast and with ease. And another great thing about this device is that it’s not much bigger than a standard USB flash drive.
Because the USB Key has such a unique feature and it’s quite an unusual and innovative product, it can become a great promotional gift for your clients, partners or employees. Like all other promotional items, the USB Key can be branded with your logo and packed in a custom made box, just waiting to increase your brand awareness.
As a side note, this device is quite cheap, but its perceived value by the receiver is high. It’s a small price to pay to make your customers more loyal to you brand. Plus, you can opt for custom packaging and preloaded digital data, digital data that can be viewed on personal computers, as well as on tablets.